Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

SS Atlantis Atlantic אטלנטיס
Built: 1885
Capacity: 1,030 tons 1,400 displacement tons
Heinrich Henry Wellisch cites: "The Atlantic was an old wreck of about 1400 tons"

In late 1940, while the Germans were trying to deport the Jews of Europe, rather than exterminating them, and Adolf Eichmann headed The Committee for Sending Jews Overseas, Berthold Storfer, a Jewish businessman, worked under Adolf Eichmann. and organized two groups of transports, one organized on behalf of the Jewish community of Wien, and the second, organized with Betar.
Adolf Eichmann was happy to make trouble for the British by allowing Jews to leave for Palestine, counter to the policy of the British White Paper of 1939, and against the unofficial British policy, which did not even allow Jews into Palestine.
The Committee for Sending Jews Overseas, chartered three ships in Romania:
* Atlantic
* Pacific
* Milos

The Port Authority of Tulcea issued a certificate of navigability, for which they had been paid, for Atlantic אטלנטיק, and on October 5, 1940, Atlantic אטלנטיק' boilers were lit and weight had to be redistributed and baggage rearranged because she listed.
Atlantic אטלנטיק had a Greek captain and crew and sailed under the Panamian flag.
In addition,to the many leaks that had to be stopped because her pipes had holes, water inundated the ship.

On October 7, 1940, at 10:45AM, Atlantic אטלנטיק sailed from Tulcea, carrying 1,770 passengers, organized by Bertnold Storfer.
Jewish Virtual Library.org cites: "On October 1, 1940, three vessels sailed from the Rumanian port of Tulcia - the Atlantic, the Milos and the Pacific, carrying some 3,500 immigrants from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia."
Abraham J. Edelheit and Hershel Edelheit cite: Atlantic אטלנטיק sailed from Tulcea, carrying 1,880 passengers.
Isaac Nehama cites Atlantic אטלנטיק sailed from Tulcea on September 11, 1940, carrying 1,809 passengers.
Heny Heinrich Wellisch cites: "Atlantic sailed from Tulcea on October 7, 1940 while the Pacific and the Milos had left a few days earlier."
Abraham J. Edelheit and Hershel Edelheit cite: "The rudder was damaged and she could not be steered, so she was towed to Sulina, for repair. Atlantis carried the refugees, who came down the Danube on Schönbrunn and Helios.
Atlantic אטלנטיק was described as "grossly overcrowded, standing room only on deck; below lack of ventilation and light; no ablution or laundry facilities; no proper cooking facilities."
Heinrich Henry Wellisch cites: "Conditions on the Atlantic were terrible to put it mildly. The overcrowding was so severe that the ship sometimes began to list to one side; the "Hagana"2 of which I was a member had to drive people to the other side to counteract this. There was little food and the sanitary facilities were extremely primitive. During the voyage many people became ill, several died and were buried at sea."

On October 7, 1940, Mordechai and Pesa Rypinsky, and children Hella and Yitzchak, sailed on Atlantic אטלנטיק from Tulcea for Palestine.

On October 8, Atlantic אטלנטיק arrived in Istambul, where she received bread and water, and sailed for the Bosphorus, and the Mediterranean.

Atlantic אטלנטיק had difficulty maintaining stability in the open water of the Mediterranean, and sought shelter on the leeside of Mytilene, where she dropped anchor.
Henry Heinrich Wellisch cites: "On October 16 we arrived at Heraklion on the island of Crete and at this time ran out of coal, were unable to continue further and our ship remained anchored in the port surrounded by harbor police."
On October 20, 1940, contact with Atlantic אטלנטיק was lost.
On October 23, 1940, she took on board two loads of coal.
On October 25, 1940, Milos met up with Atlantic אטלנטיק.
On October 28, 1940, Italy declared war on Greece, which meant that Atlantic אטלנטיק was nolonger in a neutral port, so her hull was painted with Panamanian colors to show neutrality.

On November 5, 1940, Atlantic אטלנטיק loaded 21 tons of coal, followed by another 60 tons, and food supplies were delivered.
On Thursday, November 7, 1940, at 10:00AM, Atlantic אטלנטיק sailed from Heraklion Ηράκλειον, and the next morning she was in a deep cove outside Aghios Nicolaus Άγιος Νικόλαος, where the Commander of the Port boarded, refused to allow anyone to disembark, and ordered Atlantic אטלנטיק to leave.
Henry Heinrich Wellisch cites: "During the first night out of Crete, the captain somehow managed to squander most of the coal and there were even rumors that some of the coal had been thrown over board. At this time the captain refused to continue in an easterly direction and stated that he wanted to return to Greek territory. Our transport committee decided to arrest him and continue the journey."

On November 11, 1940, at dusk, Atlantic אטלנטיק sighted two British warships, which approached and hailed her, and continued to shadow her at reduced speed, until she appraoched the coast of Cyprus Κύπρος.
Henry Heinrich Wellisch cites: "within a day we ran out of coal, the ship came to a halt and the distress flag was hoisted, since the ship had no radio. It was now decided to strip the ship of all available wood for fuel. The decks, masts, interior partitions, and even furnishings were thrown into the furnace and in this fashion we continued for a day or two. When next morning we sighted land in the distance, we had finally run out of fuel and the engine stopped for good. It turned out that we had reached Cyprus in allied territory."

On November 12, 1940, the British Naval Police towed Atlantic אטלנטיק to Limassol, where she set anchor.
Henry Heinrich Wellisch cites: "After a few hours a tugboat approached and towed our ship into Limassol."

On November 23, 1940, Atlantic אטלנטיק, escorted by a British Man-of-War sailed from Limassol, and made Palestine 24 hours later.
Henry Heinrich Wellisch cites: "British police came on board and after we were supplied with coal a British captain, crew and military escort,"